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Steelers | Two charges against Reed dropped

Steelers | Two charges against Reed dropped

Mon, 01 Mar 2010

The Associated Press reports a Pennsylvania judge has dismissed two of the four charges Pittsburgh Steelers PK Jeff Reed received during an incident last October. The judge dismissed the simple assault and resisting arrest charges. Reed still faces disorderly conduct and public drunkenness charges, but the judge postponed a decision on those charges.

Re: Steelers | Two charges against Reed dropped

Charges dismissed against Steelers kicker Reed

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP)—A judge on Monday dismissed charges of simple assault and resisting arrest against Steelers kicker Jeff Reed(notes), who was accused of raising his fists at a Pittsburgh police officer when ordered back in his vehicle as police dealt with a teammate.

The two misdemeanor charges dismissed by state District Judge Richard King at Reed’s preliminary hearing were the most serious he faced. King postponed for six weeks a decision on whether to hold Reed for trial on charges of disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

King directed Reed to perform 40 hours of community service and said he would consider dropping the two summary charges if Reed complies.

The judge said that “something was there” between Reed and police on Oct. 18, 2009, several hours after the Steelers beat Cleveland 27-14, but that it didn’t rise to the level of simple assault or resisting arrest.

King suggested the conflict could have been avoided if Reed hadn’t felt the need to “butt in” when police were preparing to cite Reed’s teammate, backup tight end Matt Spaeth(notes), for allegedly urinating in a parking lot near Heinz Field.

Reed declined to comment, but his attorney, Robert DelGreco Jr., said Reed has been humbled.

“It hurts him that there are people out there that might think that he squared up and wanted to fight cops, or actually fought cops. That’s not Jeff Reed,” DelGreco said.

During the roughly half-hour hearing, three Pittsburgh police officers gave testimony at odds with an account given at DelGreco’s request by an off-duty state trooper who was there.

King said he wanted Reed to do community service because the fines for the summary offenses—$300 on each count—would essentially be meaningless to Reed.

DelGreco said while the money wasn’t the issue, Reed could face more serious sanctions from the NFL if he were to be found guilty. He didn’t have details.

It was Reed’s second arrest last year. He paid $543 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct and criminal mischief for damaging a paper towel dispenser in a Pittsburgh-area convenience store bathroom in February, a few weeks after the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

Instead, Reed will have six weeks to complete 40 hours of community service before he appears again before District Judge Richard King.

"He put his nose in where it didn't belong. For someone of his means, a fine means nothing. His time is much more valuable," said King, who dropped charges of simple assault and resisting arrest and said he would consider doing the same with the disorderly conduct and public drunkenness charges.

Three police officers testified during a hearing in Pittsburgh Municipal Court that Reed attempted to fight with them when they confronted his teammate, Matt Spaeth, for urinating outside a North Side bar Oct. 18 after the Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns.

Reed, 30, declined to comment. Steelers officials could not be reached.

"This has been unsettling, expensive and somewhat humbling for Jeff," said his attorney, Robert Del Greco. "This is about more than charges. This is about his reputation. No one wants to be labeled a drunk or obnoxious."

Sgt. David Krueger testified that Reed "went down into a fighting stance and brought his fists up to his face like a boxing stance" after emerging from a truck, and police ordered him back in.

Krueger said Reed swayed back and forth and smelled of alcohol.

"Having dealt with obnoxious drunks before, I feared he would hit me," Krueger said. "He had a thousand-yard stare."

"If I would have had my Taser out, I would have Tasered him," Holt testified.

Four officers restrained and handcuffed Reed. They later released him to the custody of his father, who was inside the truck with two others.

State police Trooper Mark Benson testified that he was with Reed inside McFadden's Bar and at a party in a parking lot of the stadium after the game, and he seemed "fine" and not intoxicated.

Officer Dan O'Hara, president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1, said the officers were right to charge Reed.

"Obviously, when we file charges against someone, we believe we have the evidence to support them," said O'Hara, who was not involved in the case. "But in the end, it's up to the judge."

King said he considered levying a fine against Reed and dropping the charges.

"Lately, it's been somewhat of an open season, where people think they can butt in when police officers are doing their jobs, and I don't know that Mr. Reed, because of his status, should be treated any differently than anyone else," King said.

Earlier last year, Reed pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in Westmoreland County after police said he smashed a paper towel dispenser and yelled at a convenience store employee in New Alexandria.